Trip Report
Date July 20-August 4, 2012
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Volunteers
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Surgeries
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Days Working
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The team this year consisted of 6 veterans (Krys, Zee, Brian, Ngozi, Rachelle and I) and
7 rookies (Paul, Ejovi, Sherri, Elizabeth, Erin, Rob & Jason) who even with the diversity and
cultural differences within the team all came together with unique "spirits," and dealt with the
issues at hand for an overall successful mission.
A respected colleague of mine taught me that "if you do not have expectations you will
not be frustrated." Even with that lesson I found this year's trip the most "taxing" and frustrating.
In retrospect I feel I set my expectations too high. From the outset we were able to run two
teams simultaneously at the Case Hospital and Mulago Hospital, we doubled our output and
tackled more complex cases, yet still struggled to encourage the local initiative to be truly
productive. Even though we were able to accomplish quite a bit, we did experience many
situations beyond our control that felt like body blows from a championship boxer. The trip
budget collapsed with the added burden of unforeseen and unexplainable customs and duties
charges, we were faced with clinical circumstances that forced us to abandon a patient in need
and also led to the untimely demise of another.
All the while as I was trying to recover from the body blows, I noticed a dramatic change
in Uganda both in the rural and urban areas. The Sino and Indo influence is omnipresent,
absolutely everyone has a cell phone, and now it seems everyone has a car or motorcycle. The
price of petrol runs about 3600 UGS per litre ($6 per gallon). The Ugandans have found oil in
northern Uganda and are getting it out of the ground and looking for buyers. They also found
gold in the mountains and have started mining for it. The Ugandans are absolutely paranoid of
terrorist influences, and the government and media are touting the anti-corruption efforts.
Inflation is running high, restaurant prices were being changed daily, and banks were offering
11% to 20% for fixed deposits, with many new banking companies on the scene. Throughout
Kampala there is construction of massive shopping complexes and office buildings but there is
still no infrastructure development i.e. roads, electrical grids, water and sewers, nor did I see any
new housing projects. While there we witnessed an overnight blackout in Kampala and many
power surges and minor outages that necessitated rebooting equipment during surgery. Even
with what seemed to be advances in their society, the Mulago hospital is crumbling, the wards
are decaying, the ancient sterilizer was still not working nor has it been replaced, and the service
is deteriorating. There are so many simple things that could be done and year after year the "low
hanging fruit" simply do not get picked. Likewise in the rural settings we visited the dependant
attitude is still predominant. Everyone expected a "handout". In the past it was a few dollars at a
time. Now it is cell phones, computers and "internet time" they are asking for. These issues
have not changed in the 7 years I have now been going.
Despite the lack of forward progress my resolve and commitment are even stronger.
After all they were body blows not knockout punches. We can make a difference and I can
change my expectations. Meeting up with some of my past patients reinforces exactly why we
are there. I have new strategies for next year to deflect the body blows.
I would like to thank the entire team and give special mention to Kris and Zee for
orchestrating the donation of a brand new anesthetic machine for the spine operating room, and
to Elizabeth who generated many donations through the website, and single handedly collected
and supplied all sorts of OR supplies and medications which allowed us to safely care for our
patients and ourselves.
Dr. Isador Lieberman
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